Egypt: Acting veteran Khalil dies of COVID-19

Cairo: Veteran Egyptian actor Ahmed Khalil, famous for TV drama roles, died due to complications from COVID-19, Egyptian media reported. He was 80.

Khalil was recently hospitalised after catching COVID-19. He briefly left the hospital before he was readmitted after his health deteriorated.

He died at the hospital on Tuesday and was later buried in Cairo.

He appeared in around 200 works, mostly TV serials including “The Morning and Evening Talk”, a multi-generational drama based on a novel of the same name by Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Khalil’s last work was the TV soap opera “My Tale with Time”, co-starring famous actress Mervat Amin. The serial is being shown on an Egyptian TV station. Khalil was reportedly infected during the filming the serial.

Egyptian Culture Minister Inas Abdul Dayem mourned him, calling him “one of Egyptian art’s icons”.

Khalil was the latest in a series of Egyptian performers, who passed away after catching COVID-19. They included celebrated actresses Raja Al Jedawi and Dalal Abdul Aziz.